B2 Productions: The Best Green Screen Studios

May 18, 2018

Tracy Phillips

We’ve done a lot of shoots in a lot of different facilities – from good to bad. So what’s the difference when you’re shooting on green screen? A good facility has a cyc or green screen set up (hopefully clean or newly painted) with grid lighting/dimmers so you can evenly light the background without over-taxing your gaffer. Quiet air conditioning is a plus when shooting in summer conditions. A loud air conditioner or heater or air purifier can really put a damper on things with noise right over the top of your talent. I’ve been in studios without air conditioning in the summer and wow does that make for a very hot and temperamental crew and talent.

Staff: hands off is always my choice. I like someone there to set things up (a point person) but I don’t need them hanging around while we are shooting. If I need something, I’ll call or text their cell for help.

All green is not alike. Important: a really reflective (or newly painted) green surface with gloss or a glossy finish can be a nightmare that produces bounce all over the place. In simple terms. when you’re shooting someone on a reflective green surface it will reflect the green on your talent’s face, glasses, clothes, shoes, etc. and produces an image that is not easy to key. Now, there are a lot of great programs out there that will get rid of the green in the key but that can take A LOT of time and a lot of masks – more hours, more $$$.

Make sure the facility is sound proof from outside noise. Make sure the facility is not in the flight path of an airport (trust me, you don’t want to find that out the hard way). If possible, take a tour of the facility before you sign on the dotted line. You can learn a lot. If you are unable to tour the studio prior to the shoot, you now have some pertinent questions to ask the studio manager (or sales person) before you make a commitment.

The right studio is out there for you. I’ve booked a studio in the back roads of Wisconsin (virtually unheard of and with zero web presence) that was unbelievable. They ran the studio and shot the interviews, and for my money, was one of the best facilities I’ve ever used. Keep searching and don’t get frustrated.

Here is a video review that I gave to a local studio that did a great job for me in October 2017. They adhere their green surface onto linoleum flooring and roll out the 12×12 surface for green screen shoots (you can see this in the picture above). It produces as close to a cyc as you’re going to get. Also, no seams to deal with like in stand alone green screens and an evenly lit background from shoes up that makes keying a breeze. Bravo.